Kishida sidesteps criticism of cash handout policy change

Those coupon printing companies must be fighting with the town mayor about now. Wait a minute, the town mayor owns the printing company?

The stimulus package is stimulating problems not solutions.

This program is a waste of taxpayer money to begin with.

So the debate about cash versus vouchers is besides the point.

If advice payments are needed, then that means the fundamental social security net itself is deficient to begin with. Why is this not the debate?

I am happy to pay taxes to help the needy, but paying taxes to help even households that make more than 10 million yen a year is simply insane.

Makes no sense giving money or voucher.

If the government is worried that people are not going to spend it and just put it into savings then we can conclude that people are not really in need!

If low income families are having a hard time then create a simple method of getting funds to those actually in need and who will spend the money.

Ridiculous circus of money false promises flip-flops baited biased and disappointed

Kishida needs to bribe people because he has to deal with all the scandals and incompetence associated with Abe, Suga, and Aso. He does not have any new solutions just business as usual. The government just got caught in another international scandal:

Japan admits overstating some government economic data for years

https://www.yahoo.com/news/japan-admits-overstating-construction-orders-004337666.html

They have been lying for years no decades. This is why J-gov does not like international press. This is why the COVID infection numbers were so high during the Olympics. They would been criticized for manipulating the numbers gathering like they have been doing before an after the Olympics. Of course, they also lying about the COVID-19 infection numbers, now. At the beginning of COVID pandemic, the government gave every household a 100,000 yen, but it was a confusing process for many and not efficient. It also put a major dent in a lot local government budgets. I am pretty sure the local governments was pushing back about giving out money again. That is why the voucher idea was offered as an alternative. Easier to implement, no banks to deal with, less money going out, no MY NUMBER and less work for government employees.

The households with children only was a counter offer. I predict if or when they provide the money to these households, the other people will complain, and the rest of the single or no children households will also get it. It will probably be after tax season.

how r we to recieve the cash if we do not have a bank account yet??

if you don’t have a bank account, what are you doing here !?

YukijinToday  02:08 pm JST

Some people that are all to happy to discriminate over vaccine status seem to have a case of sour grapes now they are being discriminated against for not having children.

So only people with no children discriminate over vaccine status? I honestly didn't know the issue was so black and white- Thanks for parting with that impartial statement.

Are you receiving the any ¥ govt handout?

This is madness.

I got a letter through informing me I was due to receive, and that if I wanted to DECLINE the payment, I had to contact the ward office to fill in a 'insert random name here'-sho. Who would have the patience or the time to go to the effort to decline something

It should be given to people whose annaul income falls under 3m, and a bit more at that.

Trust this bunch of muppets to use 'coupons', too. Any excuse for more paperwork.

Sweet. 3 of our 5 kids still fit into the age bracket. Hopefully the money arrives in time to buy the crypto dip!

Some people that are all to happy to discriminate over vaccine status seem to have a case of sour grapes now they are being discriminated against for not having children.

And why do the local govts want cash? So THEY can squirrel it away and collect interest, only handing it out to people at the last possible moment- just like they did the last time.

All this demonstrates is the simple WEAKNESS of this "prime" minister. He wanted to offer coupons to people to guarantee that they wouldn't squirrel it away into savings accounts (exactly as they did last time with Abe's handouts of cash). Instead, the local governments screamed that they wanted cash, cash, cash!

...And Kishida caved. He's weak as water, and this latest walkback further exposes this point nicely. Whoops!

Meanwhile, the national debt to GDP grows past 200%...to what levels? And the Baby Boomers aren't even halfway into government fund-sucking retirements yet? lol.

This decade is going to end much, much worse than it started, for everyone involved....

300,000 JPY isn't really going to make a dent on the C19 deficit in our household but every little helps, much better that no part of it is in vouchers. All the "to make the vouchers" money would go to the usual cronies.

BTW r foreigners even included in this plan and if yes how r we to recieve the cash if we do not have a bank account yet??

haha, this is such a waste. With some "creative" accounting expensives, I got my income just below the cutoff last year. My wife is also working. We are in the top 1% of household incomes, and we are still eligible to get this money we don't need. It'll just go into my share trading account.

You already get massive financial benefits from not having kids! 

I also reap "a massive financial benefit" for not owning and paying for a car. What's your point? There are no tax deductions for childlessness, in contrast to the generous and varied government benefits young families are given. Is that supposed to be fair?

 It would completely collapse

Except it hasn't. Wasn't it supposed to? Talk about a flawed theory.

Simian LaneToday  06:56 am JST

surely they should pay childless people cash too for having the foresight to not burden the human-suffering, climate-crippled world with another mouth to feed.

How many times can I upvote this?

Perhaps with the exchange rate making 100,000 yen technically $880, it actually is more like $1,000 in nuance. For families with child dependents, an extra 100,000 yen does help and goes a long way to make ends meet for those of us struggling to stay afloat. The coupons, on the other hand, were meant to stop people from keeping that cash when Japanese people tend to save things more than use it. Too much saving/hoarding doesn't help with the economy.

Green or Vouchers either ways JUST DO IT in time for Christmas and the new year holidays.

surely they should pay childless people cash too for having the foresight to not burden the human-suffering, climate-crippled world with another mouth to feed.

You already get massive financial benefits from not having kids! Everyone not selling stuff exclusively to old people (i.e., almost everyone) also gets another generation of "free" customers for whatever your business or work is. I would hate to live in an economy full of bargain-hunting grumpy old gits like myself. It would completely collapse, taking asset prices (i.e., most folks' wealth) with it.

We paid taxes far longer got no handouts and now we are told our tax money is going to someone else to pay for their children!

Spending on children in Japan has historically been the lowest in OECD. Its an ongoing "bad", but not one that has to continue. "It's always been this way" type thinking is probably the biggest obstacle to change in Japan. Its not as if a one-off 100,000 yen bung is going to change very much anyway. It's just a little bit of help during hard times. The main focus should be on where the remaining 95% of the Kishida stimulus is going.

Fiscally, this makes sense. Well, as much senses as these things can. I read a Japanese article that basically said for the coupon plan has so much more additional cost that the govt could basically raise the handout from 100,000 cash to 130,000 cash per person for the same price.

diobrandoToday  08:21 am JST

What voucher are you talking about that was not accepted in the supermarket or major pharmacy?

The one time my family recieved a stimulus voucher you could use it anyway in the ward/city that included big chains like Itotokado, Matsumotokiyoshi, etc...

If anything vouchers with a limited list of items or uses.

If they are going to give my tax money to only people with children then limit what they can buy

Baby food, diapers, shampoo, fresh vegetables, milk, eggs, possibly paying school lunch fees, etc...

No using it to go to the restaurant, treating one's self to steak, buying beer, cakes, etc....

@Simian Lame

“surely they should pay childless people cash too for having the foresight to not burden the human-suffering, climate-crippled world with another mouth to feed.”

biased much?

voucher was so not really helpful for my newborn with few products and points/prices where higher than supermarket...cash is definitely better but only stupid Kishida team thought the opposite.

Im starting to think that Politicians tell lies. Heh, Heh...

Surely the childless people should be grateful

there are many people who are childless not by choice.

So you think only people like yourself who are blessed with children, should receive this cash ?

The benefits program is one of the key measures in the government's stimulus package aimed at easing the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

The LDP has done an exemplerary job at easing the economic fallout of the pandemic to Japan Inc., politically connected crony companies and people who own land and have any kind of business established on it. The other 90 percent struggling with the fallout?

They are the "human resources" to fund this.

Instead of handing money to a bunch of children, why not really get spending going by eliminating student loans or at least giving young adults some student loan relief.

It's a debatable point. But I think that higher education is different in character from basic/compulsory education (including high school level), and the latter should be on the top priority for the government.

Seems a common sense* approach @Antiquesaving 7:23am to the problem of outstanding student loans burdening young adults & their parents in an economy with continued uncertainty for long-term career prospects. Now that cash has been approved rather that vouchers they need to look again at who exactly should be the eligible recipients of government relief funds.

@Antiquesaving7:23am: “So people like myself that spent years raising 2 taking out loans to pay for their university education and are still paying off those loans while their recently graduate children live at home because of Covid, the economy, etc.. We paid taxes far longer got no handouts and now we are told our tax money is going to someone else to pay for their children!

They are far more likely to go out and spend any savings the get from loan relief.” -

investing in a future tax payer

And producers of greenhouse gases and consumers of a host of expensive govt services. Sustainability must be the priority.

Anyway, taxes don't fund govt services, economic resources do. Taxes are paid with paper money that the govt prints when it feels like it. Resources are real. That's why the world's most affluent societies are mostly the ones with low birthrates and low populations. The worst societies socio-economically tend to be overpopulated with fast-growing populations.

These islands have too many people anyway. 120 million is excessive.

So people like myself that spent years raising 2 taking out loans to pay for their university education and are still paying off those loans while their recently graduate children live at home because of Covid, the economy, etc..

We paid taxes far longer got no handouts and now we are told our tax money is going to someone else to pay for their children!

Instead of handing money to a bunch of children, why not really get spending going by eliminating student loans or at least giving young adults some student loan relief.

They are far more likely to go out and spend any savings the get from loan relief.

Surely the childless people should be grateful others spend a significant portion of their lives investing in a future tax payer to pay for their retirement and medical care.

This! But they aren't, they are just looking after number 1, with having children you learn to stop being selfish and dedicate your life for others. They will be on here soon complaining.

Surely the childless people should be grateful others spend a significant portion of their lives investing in a future tax payer to pay for their retirement and medical care